In the 2000 movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" opportunistic Southern politician Pappy O'Daniel jumped onto the stage during a bluegrass performance of "Man of Constant Sorrow" to try to catch a populist wave to victory.

Wednesday night, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards was in Roanoke, looking for a similar boost from Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys at the Jefferson Center's Shaftman Performance Hall. Flanked by Stanley and former Georgia Rep. Ben "Cooter" Jones, Edwards spoke to a crowd of about 600.

He stuck largely to a populist message and talked about looking up to the men and women who worked with his father in a North Carolina textile mill.

"They were what I believe America is supposed to be about," Edwards said. "They went to work every day. They loved their children. They went to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, like all of us did. They cared about the people around them, and they had a lot of self respect and dignity. ... It angers me what I have seen done to people like that in America."

The former U.S. senator from North Carolina just wrapped up his three-day "Road to One America" tour, more commonly known as the "Poverty Tour." The Roanoke appearance wasn't part of the official tour, but Edwards' 17-minute speech was punctuated by his recent travels.

He told of a man he'd met earlier in the day in Wise who lived with a cleft palate for 50 years before it was surgically corrected.

"In the richest nation on the planet, a man lives for 50 years not being able to talk -- a completely fixable, correctable condition," Edwards said. "How can that be? How can that be in America? Are we not better than this?"

Edwards kept his speech largely on his "Two Americas" theme -- "the very wealthy and everybody else" -- and only occasionally mentioned policy proposals to raise the minimum wage, provide universal health care and end the nation's "addiction to oil." The topics of gay marriage, gun control and abortion were nowhere to be found.

Edwards is considered, along with U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, a front-runner for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president. His campaign, however, has stumbled, receiving heavy publicity for a $400 haircut. According to polls, Edwards maintains a slim lead among Democrats in Iowa, but he's lagging behind in other states with early primaries.

Speaking to reporters before the event Wednesday, Edwards didn't seem concerned.

"Most of America is not focused on presidential politics. They're thinking about where their family's going to go on vacation in August and when their kids are going to start school in a few weeks," Edwards said. "As we get closer and closer to the caucuses and primaries, the voters and caucusgoers will very intensely begin to evaluate each of us, and when that happens they'll see I have a very specific substantive agenda for what America needs and that I'm prepared to be president."

Edwards said he was confident he can win Virginia, a state that's voted Republican in every presidential election since Lyndon Johnson won it in 1964. He noted that Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine were elected in the last two gubernatorial elections.

"I know I can win Virginia," Edwards said. "First of all I got elected to the United States Senate from North Carolina, which is very similar to Virginia politically. ... I think particularly if we nominate someone from right next door I'd have a very good chance to win Virginia."

Still, at least one member of the audience at the Jefferson Center had a different idea, shouting "Ralph for president" during a lull between songs. The bluegrass and gospel singer has carried "Dr. Ralph Stanley for President" bumper stickers on his tours the past several years.

"I'm staying out of it this year," Stanley responded.